Agricultural and Fish Production, Jan - Jun 2019
Highlights
1. Sugar cane
At the end of June 2019, some 1,228 hectares under sugar cane for crop 2019 were harvested, yielding 96,747 tonnes of sugar cane and 11,709 tonnes of sugar. The corresponding figures for the same period of 2018 were 1,658 hectares, 116,353 tonnes of sugar cane and 14,350 tonnes of sugar respectively. The average extraction rate as at end of June 2019 was 8.48%, compared to 8.89% as at end of June 2018.
The latest estimate of Mauritius Chamber of Agriculture for the production of sugar for the 2019 crop is 325,000 tonnes, representing an increase of 0.5%, compared to 323,406 tonnes for 2018.
2. Tea
At the end of June 2019, area under tea plantation was 656 hectares same as the figure for the corresponding period of 2018. The production of green tea leaves went up by 20.2% from 4,136 tonnes in the first semester of 2018 to 4,970 tonnes in the first semester of 2019. This resulted in an increase in the production of manufactured tea by 24.9% from 720 tonnes to 899 tonnes.
3. Food crops
A total area of 3,238 hectares under food crops was harvested during the first semester of 2019, representing a rise of 16.1% over the figure of 2,789 hectares for the first semester of 2018. The production increased by 35.3% from 27,965 tonnes to 37,846 tonnes. The area under rice cultivation harvested decreased by 53.8% from 13 hectares in the first semester of 2018 to 6 hectares in the same period of 2019. However, the production of paddy rice went up by 10.5% from 19 tonnes to 21 tonnes during the same period.
4. Livestock
During the first six months of 2019, beef production from live cattle was 1,161 tonnes, 0.7% lower than the production of 1,169 tonnes in the same period of 2018. Production of beef from the slaughter of imported cattle decreased by 2.2% and that of local beef went up from 25 tonnes to 41 tonnes.
Production of goat meat and mutton went down by 6.9% and that of pork increased by 9.3%.
5. Poultry
The production of poultry was 24,600 tonnes in the first semester of 2019 compared to 24,000 tonnes in the corresponding period of 2018.
6. Fish
Fish production increased by 1.7% from 13,829 tonnes in the first six months of 2018 to 14,063 tonnes in the same period of 2019. Production of other catch (tuna, bank etc) rose by 1.6% and that of fresh coastal fish increased by 3.6%.
September 2019
